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@EST AVAXLABLE COPY 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

W; E. SAWYER & -A. MAN.

Electric-Lighting System.

Patented June 25, 1878.

[nz/c'n fora:

2 SheetsSheet 2.

BEST AVNLABLE COP- W. E. SAWYER & A.

MAN.

Electric-Lighting System.

Patented June 25,1878.

[raven/ 0mi- BEST AVAILABLE COPY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAME. SAVVYER, on NEW YORK, AND nson MAN, or BROOKLYN, N. Y.

ELEGTRlC-LIGHTING SYSTEM.

Specincation formmg part of Letters-Patent No 205.303. dated June 25, 1878; application filed May :n, 1818.

To all. whom, it may. concern.-

' Be it known that we, \VILLLur EDYVA'RD SAWYER, of the city, county, and State of New York,nnd Annoy Max, of the city of lh-ooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have jointly invented certain new and useful .lIin n'ovcments in ElectriceLighting Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdcscripti0n. .Iuanuthcr' ap 'ilication filed by us we have shown and described-an electric lamp in which light is prodi'iced without:- consumption of the carbon producing it.

The object; of our present"invention is to provide for such a distribution and application of the electric current as will render our own or any other lamp practicallyoperative upon an extensive scale. 7 Our system consists in (first) anew arrange- -inentioti electrical circuits, which are in part (second) composed of conductorsdiminishing in transverse mass as they increase in length, and in part (third) of conductors having great radiating -surfacc, provided with (fourth)' .satct-y-switclres to guard against the dangers of short-circuiting in connection with (fifth) lamps and lamplighting devices, by means of which the lamps are lighted and extinguished without danger of fracturing the carbons thereof, or of interrupting or changing the resistances ol' the circuits.

In the drawings accompanying and forming .a' part of this specification, Figure 1 is a general View of the arrangements at each lamp,

including a top View of the lamp-lighterand a side View of the safetyswitcln Fi 2 and 3 are other views olpart-s of Fig. l, and in Fig. 4 is outlined a modification which may be made of a part of the lamp-lighter. Fig.

is a diagram of the circuits, showing the combination of several of the-sets of apparatus shown in Fig. 1. a

Referring, first, for convenience of description tol igfi, j is a. generator of electricity supplying the outletting conduits or conductors 1.: It, which branch into conductors Z Z mm, the continuations of which are shown only in the case of conductors m n'nthe circuits of, conductors Z Z being mcrcl y indicated'by the 'land signs. 'lh'ere may be any number of branches 1 l m'inleading from the outlet ting-conduits according to the volume of cnr- I make the. first sections, at on, of thc"circuits smaller than the outlcttingaeonduits, and the next sections, 0 o,v still smaller, and so .on indefinitely. In the cross-branches naud p in circuits 1 1 derived by means of rcsistanccs' lt. t, we place the electric-l ighti n'g apparatus 0!- our invention, Q;

'- Referring now to Figs, 1, 2, and 3, Q is the lamp; A D M, the lainp-lighteryzll V X, the

safety-switclnand R the resistance. (Shownin Fig. 5.) c

In the lamp of our invention hereinbeforc mentioned, which 'we prefer in all casslto" employ, a small piece of carbon is heatedf'to incandcscenee in. an atmosphere with which it will not chemically combine. Other at tempts toproduce such alamp havebee'n made, but among other things it has been found almost impossible to prevent fracture of the carbon. The fracturing of the carbonis mainly due to sudden changes in temperatures. \Vhile it becomes soft and pliable'under the hcat'ot' the current at ordinary .tempcratnres, it is extre nclyjbrittle, and i nstan--,

.taneous heating from its normal condition to 'a temperature of from 5,000 0,000? Fahrenheit tends to disrupt the particles and establish the voltaic' are by, wliich'in a moment the carbon is" destroyed. The lamp-lighter.

avoids this ditliculty.- I kgain, an accidental short circuit may. occur with the result of supplying somuch current to the lamp as to volatilize ordestroy the carbon unless instantly and :mtomaticalty checked, and this danger ;is' provided against by the. .safetyswitcln. To avoid undue electrical heating from accidental or.-other causes in the conductors, and the great resistance occasioned by the heating of a conductor, especially when 4 in the form of a rheostat, "we construct; our

present considerable radiating-surface, and

Y tremit- I) is clear of s )1lll"'-1VCPA' but when .i a 7 wit-lithe spring-lover anjrl simultaneously lifts on sci'cw or stud G, carries-with it'a fan, 1-1,

stood, we in ve not deemed it necessary to -al, in which travels a plunger, 1), on pistonrod c,- provided with finger-hook d; The pisi'or instance, when theplunger is drawn into 1 the posit-ion shown, a catch shall take hold of is necessary in order to put'out the light is rod as that which takes place upon lighting artificialcircuits,.'rheostats, or resistances it, of flat or ribbon wire, in order that theymay moved to the kid; the end 1) makes connection the latter from its connection. with. contact. point I.

Fixed to the lever D isa mutilated spurwheelF, theteeth 1]- ofwhich mesh into the pins G of pinion' -G, v The pinion G, rotating situated below the 'pin'ionybut as the construction'of suchmechauism is thoroughly underillustrate the same in detail; The object of the fan is to retard the movements of the. lever 1'), and thus compel the person lighting a lamp to turn on the current gradually. Any other lneaus'of insuring a gradual movement of" the mechanism will answer the purpose; and, as an example,- we have indicated in Fig. 4 a modification that may be made .in this apparatus, a being a'tube of glass or met-- mama works loosely 'in' the'tube-headf, and the plunger ispressed toward tube-head a by coiled spring 2'. In the head 0 is an opening, 1 provided with a valve, h. This device'may be attached to theapparatus of Fig. 1, so that,

the lever D, and thepistou-rod beingreleased and the valve h closing, the slow escape of the air as the plunger is-followed up by spring 'i may cause the pistonrod to slowly move the leverlD and light the lamp. The piston-rode disengaging when'the lamp is lighted, all that to move the lever D hack to the position it occupies in Fig.- 1,rand this may be arranged to be aceomplishedbya second catch upon the piston-rod c, and the same movementof the the lamp; but since, as before observed,'any retarding device will answer the purpose, we have not deemed it necessary to enter into the details of modifications, which would only needlessly cumber our specification.

Recurring to Fig. 1, K and L are resist-- ances of, say, fifteen ohms each. 1 is a resistance of, say, twenty ohms; and O O are five resistances of, say, two ohms each. Nand N are stops for lever D. M M are six metal- BEST AVAlLABLE COP' .2 scares.

lic contact'pieces, with which lever 1) makes connection as it is moved,which contact-pieces are connected, as shown, with the five resistances'O 0. All of these'resistanccs may be of the character ofresistances R=,which, as better shown in Fig. 2, is a ilat wire or ribbon of .nletal. This ribbon is wound over pins T, fixed to any suitable insulatingbase. The .eonnectors 1t It may be of any desired form. Being in the shape ofa ribbon, the COlltlllCilQl' constituting the resistance has a large radiat- -'ing-surface, and a space being left between each layer to permit of free access of air any heat which may be evolved is rapidly dissipated. The resistance It operates to divert a portion of the currentilowingin the branches into the lamp (3. In many eascsit may be omitted.

The safety-switch is of the simplest construction. U is an ordinary electro-magnet; V, an ordinary armature-lever; \V, a standard, in which the armature-lever is pivoted,

and Y" a rctractile spring. The pin V, fixed to the lever V when the lever is not actuatedby the magnet U, serves to hold the bent 1cvcrX, working in its bearing X, in the position shown in the drawings. When, however,

the lever V is attracted by magnet U, the pin Vis lifted and the lever X, actuated by spring Y, escapes from its imprisonment.

The operation of the switch is as follows:

\Vhen the proper strength of current issupplied to the lighting-circuit, the spring V is so adjusted that the lever V does not respond to magnet U; but when from any cause there; is an increase in the current which might infjure the lamp or other apparatus or other lamps in circuit, the retractile force of the spring V is-overcome by the attractive force of the magnet, and the circuit through spring Y, lever X, armature-lever standard 1'', and the magnet is instantly broken by the release of lever X. g

In place of the safety-switch we may i ntcrpose in the circuit aseetion of a conductor .more readily fused than the conductors constituting the rest of the circuit, so that when there is too muchcurrentth'is section shall be instantly melted and the continuity of the circuit destroyed.

The operation of our apparatus is as follows:- The current enters the resistance lt from the pointsjZ Z. From theresistance at the points R'Yfllld R the current divides, the required portion entering the lighting-circuit.

When the lever l) isin the position shown;

the current passes from the point 1t to the spring-lever A, contact-point J, resistance L of fifteen ohms, and thencethrough spring Y, levers X and Y, standard \V, and magnet' U to the point B. In this position of the lever D the lamp is not in operation, and the resistance of the circuit is fifteen ohms, (disregarding everything excepting rcsistance'L.) To light the lamp, the lever D is moved to the left, and while it is still inconnection with the first contract-point, M, its end 1) makes 205.3oa i connectionwith spring-lever A,.and the counectiontbetween A and J is broken. \Vithout having been-interrupted the circuit of the lighting apparatus is now divided into two sub-circuits, one of which is from the pointR" by way of springdever A, resistance K, of fifteen ohms, resistance L, of fifteen ohms, and the safety-switch, to point It; total resistance of the sub-eircuit thirty ohms. The other subcircuit is from the; point It by way of springlever A, lever D, the first contact-point M, the five resistances O O, of two ohms eacn,

- the lamp (-2,, resistance I, of twenty ohms, and

the safety-switch to point B; total resistance thirty ohms theresistance of the lamp while the carbon is cool being practically nil. The

lighting-circuit being now divided into two sub-circuits of thirty ohms resistance each, the resistance of the circuit is still fifteen ohms, and although the lamp has been introduced, no disturbing influence has been exerted upon other lamps or circuits. The current flowing through thelamp begins to heat the carbon,which rapidly acquiresresistancc, and the resistance of the carbon increases in. proportion to the movement of the lever 1) over the contact-points M until all of the five resistances 0, of two ohms each, have been cut,

out of circuit, and the-lamp is left in circuit with theresistance P, of twentyohms; but the resistance of the lamp is now ten ohms, so. that the total resistance of the sub-circuit of the lamp is still thirty ohms, and, the resistance of the other sub-circuitremaining unchanged, the joint resistance is as at the outset fifteen ohms.

It will thus be seen that the lamp-lighter of our invention not only prevents the too sudden heating-of the carbon, but completely obviates the disturbing influences of changes in resistance which have heretofore accompanied thelighting or extinguishing of a lamp.

The application of the lamp-lighter to elec; tric lamps in which the light is produced by the voltaic are by removing resistances from the circuit in proportion as the carbons separate will be comprehended without further explanation.

Recurring now to Fig. 5, in which we have shown more than one branch from asingle source of electricity, and more than one lamp in each branch, we are aware that it is not new to' place a number of lamps in series in the circuit of a generator, or to divide. the current among several conductors, each containing a single lamp, or to divide the current among several cross-branches, n 1), each containing a single lamp. It is new, with us, however, to

divide the current among several conductors,

or several cross-branches, each containingtwo or more lamps, and lest the advantages of our arrangement may not be apparent we will pro cccd to explain the same in detail.

It iswell understood, first, that to produce a good electric light a current of electricity combining considerable intensity is indispensablej'second, in dividing the electric current ten ohms resistance each. joint resistance of the circuit of the generator.

BEST AVAILABLE CUP among a'- large number of-lamps, if there is a conductor l'ro m the generator to eaclrlamp, or

a cross-ln anch-to each lamp, the quantity of current supplied must be very great, and in the event of ashort circuit occurring in any lamp the rcsult'would be disastrous to the lamp, if it would notextinguish all the other lamps; third, in placing a large number of lamps in series, each lamp having a CO11$ldG1'- able resistance, the intensity of the current, in order to overcome thejcombined resistances, A must be very great, and to obtain the proper current is far more expensive than it is to obtain a current of greater quantity with less intensity.

To illustrate the disadvantages attending the placing of very many lamps in series, let it be assumed that there are one hundred lamps in circuit, and that the resistance of eachlamp is ten ohms, then the combined re.-

sistance of all the lamps is one thousand ohms,"

and this in the service of current for electric lighting is impractical. Suppose, now, that there are one hundred conductors leading from the generator, and thatin each conductorthere is a single lamp of ten ohms resistance, then the joint resistance of the one hundred lamps is the tenth of an ohm.- Not to mention'the wear and tear upon the generator of so slight a resistance, let it be supposed that a short circuit occurs in one of the lamps-as, for in, stance, by anaccidental connection across the terminalsot' the resistances K,L, and P, thuscutting out those resistances-thcn the resist--- ance of its conductor becomes nil, and not only are all theother lamps deprived of the cur- .rent, or the greater portion thereof, but the short-eircuiting lamp circuit receives so much current that the lamp is destroyed, even should there be no other disastrous result: If to avoid this we increase the resistance of the conductors, artificially or otherwise, outside of the lamps, we simply waste currcntin overcoming the added or artificial resistances which clearly would be costly, and -consequently impractical. Adopting, finally, our plan, let it be supposed that there are ten conductors or cross-branches, np, leadi-ngfrom the generator, each containing ten lamps of The combined and of our invention we remark, first, that there maybe in each lamp-lighter any number of resistances .0, of any number of ohms, or parts of an ohm, resistance each; second, that the- B EST AVAlLABLE COP- ancesiK and L, and, finally, to break their circuit altogether, reducing, while doing so, the resistance of the circuit of lampQ; third, that everything in thelampflighter, eiicepting the the lever 1), resistances OO, and lamp Q, may "he omitted, since the resistances O O may-be 1 be increased to such an extent that when they are allin circuit the current will he too weak I toheatthe carbon, and removing them from the'circuit' will add resistance to thecarbou I by its heating in proportion as they are re- 1 "Having this fully described our invention, what we claim asucw, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v 1 The combination,with an electric lamp, of aswitch, which in lighting the lamp graduan removes a resistance t'roiuthc circuit-e tiliercot'.

The combination, with an electric lamp,

;.of a switch, \\-hiel|,whilepreserving the contij unity of the circui't gradually removes a resistance rout the circuit'of the lamp,

' 3. The-combination, with an electric lamp, ot'arcsistmice in the circ'ut thereof which is lessened as the resistance'o'i the lamp is increased.

4-. The herciu-descricd method of lighting an electric lamp, consisting in causing theflow:

of current in such lamp to increase in strength slowly.

In an electric-lighting systenn'two or more conductors supplied with electricity by the generator of electricity which is the coins of a thin flat conducting medium, to which the air is given free access, so that the heat generated by the current is rapidly radiated or conducted oil.

In an electric-lighting system, an electrical apparatus energized by the current,

flowing in such system, which, when there is an abnormal flow 01 current in a part or parts of such system, automatically operates to dis rupt, disconnect, or change the circuit of such part or parts.

WlLLIAM EDWARD SAWYEIL ALBON MAN. 'Witnesses:

WM. H. CHURCH, R. M. STRATTON. 

